The Tournament Formerly Known As The Bob Hope had gained (a perhaps unfair) reputation in recent years for second tier golf pros and third tier celebrities, but a new name (Humana) and a new host (ex president Clinton) have added some sparkle. Phil Mickelson, Matt Kuchar, Dustin Johnson and Bill Haas headline, but the rest of the field also contains a lot of name players, including major winners Zach Johnson, Trevor Immelman, David Toms and Davis Love III.
Kuchar is the bettors’ favorite, coming in at 14/1, with Mickelson, Johnson and Haas each at 16/1. Behind them is a solid cast, with Charles Howell (22/1), Martin Laird and Bo Van Pelt (25/1). Zach Johnson and Anthony Kim show up at 30/1.
Interesting story about Zach Johnson: Thanks to the vagaries of the Tour’s statistical calculations, he actually was leading the PGA Tour in driving distance after the first round of the Sony Open. Driving distance is calcuated based on two holes chosen by the TOur each week, and Johnson had taken advantage of his tee time and the wind on both. He’s now 47th with a 299 yard average. Some guy named Jason Kokrak is in first with a 328 yard average.
Johnson had a funny line about it:
“First time that has ever happened,” Johnson said. “And probably the last, unless we had a five-man field with four Corey Pavins.”
The rest of the odds to win the Sony Open are below, courtesy of Bovada (formerly Bodog)
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